First MGP Semi-Final: The Aftermath

One down, three to go (including Sistesjansen), and so far we don't feel particularly shaken, nor stirred. Here's a few observations on what went down at Ørlandet last night!

Best Copycat
Carina Dahl surprised us with a rather strong live performance, she actually can sing. Well done! Afterwards she entertained us with cheeky comments. Shows this girl has potential, but she should consider coming up with something of her own style for next time around. Lose the Cheryl Cole act and try something else than copying Kesha's talk/singing which she in her turn stole from Uffie.

Cutest Doll
How old is Sichelle anyways? She says she's 22, but we're thinking more like 12. Perfect for JESC. She claims to be inspired by Aqua so we suppose that's why she decided to go for the Barbie Doll look. She really is adorable, but perhaps she should consider coming back in say ten years time?

Prettiest nerve-wreck
Is it just us, or did Helene Bøksle look extremely nervous last night? She did look stunning on stage, we loved her classy frock and the laser beams behind her, not to mention the kettledrums! She's one of the most experienced artists in the bunch, but perhaps the high expectations upfront brought her down. Shaky on the highest notes and moments of looking like a shit scared deer caught in the headlights. Better get your act straight before the big final Helene!

Biggest surprise
Could it really be that the voting public actually prefer talented, no nonsense, hardworking artists over fabricated, artificial wannabes? Yup, looks like it since Åste&Rikke apparently received by far most votes yesterday scoring a ticket to the final. We're still a bit "Meh" towards the song, but it was touching to watch how genuinely happy these two became when their names were called up last.

Most boring zombie
Wake up Anne Rimmen, you're on live TV!

Greatest disappointment
So how come this act did not proceed to the final? KoK featuring Alexander Rybak FTW!

And it is offcially confirmed, Alexander can dance!

What better to do on a Friday night than to tune in on the season premiere of the Swedish edition of Strictly Come Dancing? We don't usually watch that much Swedish TV, but we'll gladly give it a shot to watch our favorite fiddler swing his cute little tushy on the dancefloor. Can he charm his way into the uptight Swedes' hearts? After all they did award Norway with their douze points when he performed his fairytale in Moscow, so if he manages to show them some decent moves and bite his tongue before he blurts out too much stupid stuff afterwards he might have a fair chance!

And he can dance alright! Alexander convinced the judges with a dashing English Waltz, and by that finishing the first round on the top of the scoreboard. No one will be kicked out of the competition during the first show, but it certainly looks like our buddy is off to a good start.

The rest of the participants is pretty much a bunch of people we have never heard about before so we're obviously not that into the Swedish celebrity gossip columns, but we did detect a couple of good movers who might give Alexander a fair fight for the trophy. The actor Figge Norling and some kick ass rally racing chick named Tina Thörner (sic!) surprised us with being smooth and charming. Besides it also turns out that there's a domestic Schlager Queen in the line-up, Jessica Andersson, part of the duo Fame which scored a 5th place for Sweden in ESC back in 2003. This is btw the very same duo our legendary Norwegian ESC commentator Jostein Pedersen referred to as "equally charming as a Ivar bookshelf from IKEA". In our humble opinion it does at least look like Jessica has moved up a couple of steps on the furniture metaphor ladder. We'd say that she is now a reasonably comfy couch from Bolia.

Look who's dancing!

It's official, our very own Alexander Rybak is one of the participants in "Let's Dance", the Swedish edition of Strictly Come Dancing. We have never heard of any of the other participants so we guess Sweden must be running out of celebrities to put on the show. And as Norway import so many youngsters from across the border to do the work that we just can't be bothered with, we suppose we could spare a Eurovision Star or two for our dear neighbors.

We wish Alexander the best of luck, we hope you really can dance as well as you sing and play. And the best of luck to the Swedes as well, you might be in for a hell of a ride with this crazy fiddler in the line-up!

Belarussian fairytales for Alexander?

As we wait for new names to be released in the lineup for MGP 2011, there's apparently not much hope of seeing Alexander Rybak back on stage. And even though we love him to bits, we think it's a good thing that he's not pulling a "Lena" on us. History has told us that it's a tough act to follow up a victory in Eurovision, just ask Charlotte and Niamh... Alexander is however not closing the window completely for new ESC fairytales in the future. According to vg.no he wishes to compose for other artists from other countries and he suggests Belarus where he has his native roots. Our initial response is that we want to keep him for ourselves, heaven knows we can use some decent songwriters after last year's Eurovision disaster, but we suppose we can share him... After all it's Thanksgiving across the pond today and Christmas is soon approaching, and we do want Santa to think we've been nice this year. Hohoho!

No Rybak for China

OK, so no use for Alexander Rybak to start digging a hole to China. Because China doesn't want him.

You see China is mad at Norway for giving the Nobel Peace Price to Chinese Liu Xiaobo acknowledging his work for the freedom of speech. And of course China doesn't want freedom of speech. Nor do they want freedom of playing a violin and singing like it's your last day on earth.

Yeah, that makes perfectly sense. And we're really happy Eurovision is outside politics. But we guess the real question is: Who is getting punished here, Norway or China? We'd sure opt for the latter. Go spit on your own carpet, grumps.

X-Factor ready to be Eurovisionized

Ok, here's the deal, glamourous GEE blogger girls have better things to do on a Friday night than hiding behind a pillow trying not to watch self-absorbed teenagers ridicule themselves on national TV. We have a life you know, friends to see, places to be, G&T's to be consumed. At least that was the case until the new season of Norwegian X-Factor introduced good old Eurovision Queen Bettan "Bobbysocks" Andreassen as one of the judges on the show. And now it turns out that she has invited Alexander Rybak as a sidekick when selecting the finalists in the "over 25" group. OMG! Seems like all our Friday nights in the weeks to come suddenly became all booked up... Stay tuned peeps!

Will this lovely couple find Norway's next superstar? Hell yes!

Our night: Thursday of Estonia and Norway

Today we have been to a reception with the Estonian embassy and the Estonian participants Malcolm Lincoln, followed by a Norwegian party at Ballroom. Here's a couple of hightlights:

Malcolm Lincoln had a small selection of people, among them us, over for a concert. How lucky were we to see glorious Robin Juhkental swing the microphone over his head and even another couple of hotties in the back there. We now love the Estonian song even more.

-I wanna be a fool, not cool, Robin said as this picture was taken. We thought it was a tremendous idea. Check out our interview tomorrow.


At the Norwegian party, Alexander Rybak did an amazing performance and swung his fiddle like only he could do it. Whatta man he is.


And here's another fantastic fiddler, Moa Meinich. Even though Alexander sings about loving her in his new single, he claims they are not a couple. But won't you look at that connection? We think Alexander should get around to this very sweet girl if he hasn't already. Because we love you Moa.



Not bad connection here either, as buddies Alexander Rybak and Didrik Solli-Tangen dreams away the Everly brothers way.



Didrik did the final version of My hard is yours - with choir for the first time. It did wonders to the song, and we are starting to believe Norway might have a good chance in the final.

And yay, there's Michael von der Heide, the Swiss Sweetheart! He told us that Switzerland might consider withdrawing from ESC if the country fails to qualify for the final again. Now we can't have that happening, can we. We will cast a vote for the Golden Boy next Thursday!

Posing effortlessly with our buddies from Eurovisionnorway.com.  Lookin pretty fly with their glasses on!

In defence of Alexander Rybak with love

Norway is probably one of the strangest countries on earth. Don't you ever become famous here. Because that road of fortune will lead you anywhere but paradise. Good Evening Europe would now like to declare our love for Alexander Igorovitsj Rybak in the nation of the never pleased.

It was the 16th of May. No, actually, it was long before that. Everyone knew something big was bound to happen. There was no reason to participate in the national finals - the media had declared the winner already. And so had the Norwegian people. Because somewhere in a basement of Nesodden there was an almost unknown 23 year old boy who had written a little song because he kinda liked a girl he knew even though it hurt. He turned out to have it all: The looks, the voice, the moves, the Eastern European heritage, the glorious charm and, not to forget, he was a fantastic violinist. No one could never ever beat that in our country, you see, because we do love our underdogs. As long as they remain as such.

Turned out, no one could never ever beat that boy in Europe either. He was unstoppable, and hit everyone's record long before voting was over.We will never forget that night of 16th of May, when everyone danced in the street and you couldn't be anywhere without hearing Alexander Rybak on repeat with happy people singing along. The world had gone completely mad with joy, and we hadn't seen anything like it since the war ended. This was everyone's party for everyone. Alexander Rybak was the tsar of Moscow, the emperor of Europe and the king of Norway. He played in the opera and on all television channels and made all women scream while their men clapped their hands.

Yes, Alexander was our star and we certainly treated him like one. Until one day he was too popular for us. Then suddenly people were sick of him. He wasn't an underdog anymore and we didn't like that he was a bit tired from the circus.The fanpages on Facebook, that grew out of proportions before the national finals were over, gave way to pages like "Can this duck get more fans than Alexander Rybak". And as this years international finals are rapidly approaching, all media can find to write about is that they don't like Alexander's new single.

Seriously, Norwegians: Pull yourselves together. Alexander gave us a fairytale. The forthcoming final is our time to return some of the favor. He was loved for a reason. And he still deserves to be. This bloke did everything himself. He gave himself to us without filter. And he is the sole reason Oslo and Norway is approaching the most glamorous party of the millennium so far. Just remember that when you sip your champagne and enjoy all great things about to happen. The welcome in Telenor arena better be fantastic.

Thank you, Alexander Rybak. You will always be our winner <3